Anyone looking for suitable equipment for their next outdoor adventure will find a wide range of products in the premium segment at Fenix - including the brands Fjällräven, Hanwag, Brunton, Primus and Tierra. The subsidiary Frilufts Retail Europe AG also includes the chain stores Naturkom_paniet (Sweden) and Partioaitta (Finland) as well as the German retailer Globetrotter.

In order to master the growing challenges of the omnichannel business at an operational level in the long term, Fenix Outdoor International AG recently established its own logistics company within the Group. The expertise bundled in Fenix Outdoor Logistics GmbH focuses on supplying stores in Germany and Scandinavia as well as e-commerce customers.

Distribution center for flexible omnichannel distribution
The primary challenge is the efficient handling of deliveries to brick-and-mortar retailers and an increasing number of e-commerce customers from a single warehouse. To ensure a seamless shopping experience, high product availability and efficiency despite daily and seasonal order fluctuations as well as the optimal handling of different sales channel specifics are crucial. While store deliveries are primarily concerned with the correct pre-sorting and sequencing of goods, in e-commerce fast order processing of many small orders and highly efficient processing of returns are important.

The SSI Carrier is at the heart of the solution. This modular pocket conveyor from SSI Schaefer can transport, accumulate, buffer, sort and sequence up to 4,500 different items per hour. The daily shipping volume amounts to around 25,000 store items and 5,000 parcels, which are transported to the end customers. "We are building best-in-class logistics for the future here," says Felix Köhler, Warehouse Manager at Fenix Outdoor Logistics. "The pocket sorter is an important building block in this concept. It can be used to process 90 percent of orders from stock. This results in very short throughput times with significantly reduced costs and 100 percent reliable processing." The pocket sorter is particularly impressive due to its scalability and flexibility. The system also meets the desired throughput rate and the requirements profile associated with the item structure.

Intralogistics solution from a single source
"SSI Schaefer's ability to work with us to develop a customized solution that was perfectly tailored to the requirements and to deliver it as a general contractor from a single source was decisive for the award of the contract," Felix Köhler continues. The scope of supply includes the SSI Carrier with 25,000 pockets, six ergonomic loading stations and eleven ergonomic unloading stations as well as two console lifters, a three-storey R 3000 shelving system with around 92,600 storage locations, a pallet racking system with more than 1,500 storage locations, three telescopic conveyors and 1,500 order totes. In addition, there are infeed and outfeed conveyor lines for flat goods and old cartons as well as empty containers. The conveyor technology processes are managed and controlled by the Wamas logistics software from SSI Schäfer.

Multi-talented for different distribution channels
The majority of goods pass through the SSI Carrier System. Each bag is loaded with an item at the loading station. By scanning the item, the product barcode is "married" to the respective carrier ID and the software knows which product is in which bag. The loaded pouches pass through various buffer areas in which batches of up to 216 pouches are formed. Finally, they enter the matrix sorter, the main element of the SSI Carrier. This is used to sort the pockets and generates customer orders from the batches in an orderly sequence. A matrix sorter was installed for Fenix, which can sort the bags into three sorting stages of six lines each. Once the bags have been sorted according to the orders, the items are forwarded to the unloading stations in the correct sequence via a packing buffer. The entire process is controlled and monitored by the Wamas logistics software, which communicates with the customer's higher-level warehouse management system.

Further expansion planned at the new location
On the way to "best-in-class" logistics, which is intended to strengthen the stationary trade in addition to the e-commerce business, Fenix Outdoor Logistics is also planning to build a third hall, which is expected to be equipped with SSI Carrier technology in 2021. "With SSI Schaefer, we have a reliable and long-term oriented partner at our side and are more than satisfied with the customized solution. Due to the great success of our business model, we are therefore planning to expand our intralogistics solution and are looking positively to the future," summarizes Felix Köhler.